Description

Hello!
We are a cheerful and organic little family of 4, Dad and Mum and our two daughters (4 and 2 years) that normally lives in Copenhagen, but this year we have bought this wonderful thatched roof house in the countryside. The nature here is second to none, it’s the habitat of so many rare birds, but - Our place do need a little restoration, as the old owners didn´t have the strength to maintain it.

The area is an international "Dark Sky Park" so if there’s no clouds at night, you´ll be able to see the milky way. It is also a UNESCO nature area, in the daytime you´ll see many, many birds, some small and some not so small (the white tailed eagles sometimes swing by) fly over the house, and deer walk around in our garden and use our young precious fruit trees to scratch their itching antlers (!). Our house is located only 600 meters from a white beach, the sand there is so lovely clean and white, and the waters shallow and quiet, it´s forbidden to windsurf, kitesurf and to use any motorized boats, as there´s many birds nesting around the island, But!! Kayaking is a really big ting here, so there´s many kayak schools and places to rent a kayak. That can be really fun.

We would love if you would make a meal from your country once? maybe teach it to us?

We will be in the house in the weekends and when the girls are having school vacations (They have around 17 weeks of vacation each year). The rest of the time we will be in Copenhagen. We trust that you will take good care of our house!

This is our breathing space, this is where we relax, work hard and hear the birds sing.

We would love some help with the place though, the house is build in 1900, and is very well isolated, but needs some brush up (We haven´t actually found much furniture yet, we would like to get everything ready before taking that step), it´s a lovely house, and everything is in good condition -We´d just like to make it ours, the final decor if you will.

Maybe you have some special talents? (Restoring a lake? Permaculture? Thatching a roof.. felling trees? or know something about garden architecture?) Or maybe you would like to help a family in need?

There´s lots of stuff to do when you aren´t helping, You can take a lot of beautiful hikes (There´s some stunning official routes, that swings by our home!) , take a walk on the moor, go to the part of the woods, that´s in a huge lake... or take a relaxing swim in the ocean (The beaches here are incredible, with sand and as long as you can see), go kayaking? See some peculiar and rare nature, or maybe something completely different?

Transportation:

We assume you´d like to get around on your own! We have some old bikes (They came with the house) And, if you can repair those, we´d be happy!
One way or another, we will make sure, that you will be able to get around the island.

Of course there´s wifi too!

There´s only one bathroom/ toilet in the house.. maybe we should build one more outside? Depending on how many people that will/are staying with us, we can give you a shared room or separate rooms.

Regarding tools, workclothes and so - We have all the tools (we hope!) and lots of working clothes.. the only thing that you can´t live without, is rubberboots, but... tells us your size and we will give you some, those are way too big to bring in your pack anyhow!

We hope you will enjoying staying with us!

Type of help

Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

We hope to give you some insight into creating a homestead in the woods, in balance with the surroundings. To teach you about danish culture. To show you our unique nature, how to make a home that gives space to the animals and to restore valuable nature.

Help

What we need:
If yo'd like stay with us, we will need help with this (Doing it isn't hard part.. doing it with two small children caling your name all the time, that calls for superman!)

In the house:
Remove the wallpaper and fill the walls in order to paint them
Plan the floors and oil them
Renovate the bathroom and kitchen
Some cleaning
Making food (we will take turns.. or maybe you can teach us some new dishes!)

The Laundry/ Stove room
This is actually a great room, the old owners didn't use it though, and therefore there´s only the heating out there, but we plan to make it a separate laundry room too -As it´s big enough, and it´s nice not to have to do laundry inside!
Here we have to:
Paint
Make new floor
Put up the tables and shelves
(The rest the plumbing guys will take care of)

The Garden
This place is a whole different chapter!
If you like gardening.. perhaps Permaculture is your thing?, or have a Woodcutter in your stomach.. or maybe you have just dreamt of restoring a lake filled with duckweed? what about bees? Do you have a dream of making honey?

Well, we can most certainly help you try all that, or.. you can help us do all that!

The garden is maybe, 4300 squaremeters, we are in the woods.. but to give room for the trees to grow properly and become strong and healthy trees, we need to cut down some of them, as there´s way, way to many.
We have about 500 squaremeters vicious blackberries... we don´t particularly care for those!

The lake, yeah, we have a lake too, it's filled with algea.. but, as it´s the habitat for many salamanders and frogs, you guessed right . We have to restore it! It will be fun and rewarding -Seeing the nature thrive is wonderful! but also it's very manual labour!

On top of that, we´d like to farm our own vegetables (We also have a small greenhouse), and plant berry bushes... And mend the fence around the vegetables.. otherwise the deers and rabbits will get in and eat it all

And! we would really, really love to plant some living fence/hedge on the perimeter.

As a special thing, we have to thatch the roof this July, so if you´re staying with us in July, we can celebrate our new roof!

Languages spoken

Danish, English, some German, French, and Japanese

Accommodation

Depending on how many people there will be staying, there's either a shared or private rooms. We will of course provide beds(!) and duvets, pillows and so.
There´s only one bathroom, so that's shared.

Food, we will provide 3 meals a day (And lots of snacks)! -If you have any dietary needs, please tell us! We will make sure to take care of it.
-Also, we would be happy if you could teach us some new dishes! Our family loves new food. So if you have any good ideas, don´t hesitate!

What else ...

There's lots of stuff to do when you aren't helping. You can take a lot of beautiful hikes (There´s some stunning official routes, that swings by our home!) , visit the Nature-Center (arund the corner), take a walk on the moor, go to the part of the woods, that´s in a huge lake... or take a relaxing swim in the ocean (The beaches here a incredible, with sand and as long as you can see), What about kayaking? See some peculiar and rare nature, or maybe something completely different?

You would properly like to be independent, and to get around on your own.. right now we have some old bikes (They came with the house), that needs some minor fixing -If you can do that, you can use the bikes as you wish!

If not, we´ll find a way for you to get around! It´s more fun to be independent.

We are only in the house in the weekends, and in the school vacations (17 weeks a year), we havn´t actually had the change to spend a lot time there yet ( we bought it 1. april), but we like to be outside, work in the garden, go on hikes, go to some of the many birdwachter towers.. it´s a incredible place!

The area is very quiet, as most of the people living there is "vacation-house owners".

A little more information

Internet access

Limited internet access

We have pets

We are smokers

How many Workawayers can stay?

More than two

Hours expected

Darren was our very first Workawayer! He is nice company, easy going and eager to learn new tasks. He was a good help with our interior renovation and garden work. We had a great time with Darren, and we love to meet again some time in the future!

(Excellent
)

18/06/2017

Left by Workawayer (Darren) for host

I'm so glad this is my first and ever Workaway experience, and I'm happy I'm their first too. Mia and Morten are just such kind hosts, they are always happy to take care of your needs. And another cool thing about them, they work with you most of the time! There is always work here, but it's always flexible in the meantime: you can decide what you… read more want to do and arrange your time every day, it can really be enjoyable and meaningful if you manage your time well! Don't ever forget their kids, they are just sweet and fun, you would know what I mean if you meet them...

And the island is great, if the bike is available and you're willing to go out, there are many things to explore!

All in all, I would say this is a amazing place with amazing people to live, work and have fun!